Josiah Charles Stamp was
born in Kilburn, London, on 21 June 1880. He was the third of seven children
(one of his brothers Dudley was to become at least as famous) of Charles
Stamp who had managed a railway bookstall at Wigan, then owned a provision
shop in London. He was brought up as a Baptist and was educated at Bethany
House in Goudhurst and left school at 15. In 1896 he entered the civil service
by examination and began as a boy clerk in the Inland Revenue. His progress
was swift, but he had the energy to study for an external degree in economics.
and at 23 he was assistant inspector of taxes in Hereford: at 29 1st
class inspector in London and at 36 assistant secretary to the Board of Inland
Revenue. In 1903 he married Olive Jessie Marsh. He developed as one of Britain's
leading economists, working with inexhaustible energy. When nearly 39 he
left the civil service for business, in March 1919 becoming secretary and
director of Nobel Industries Ltd from which Imperial Chemical Industries
later developed. In January 1926 he became the first President of the LMSR
; Sir Josiah Stamp (later Lord Stamp of Shortlands) was a very able and
successful man as his CV reveals. He had so many fingers in so many pies,
however, that he was criticised for not (so the critics said) spending his
time concentrating on LMSR problems. He was a Government adviser to many
departments and would read learned papers to anyone anywhere, at the drop
of a hat. He was not, however, experienced in the railway industry in any
way and (like another ICI director some years later) thought that all large
organisations could be approached in a similar manner. What he did not know,
or if he did, would not accept, was that "A service industry such as a railway
derives its efficiency more from that intangible thing, staff morale, than
any other single source

Sir Herbert Walker said of Stamp: "[He] had a fine brain and he brought
discipline to the LMS but he didn't know how to use it and he chose an American
system which didn't work".

A. Pearson, an LMS man who was at the centre of affairs at Euston
for many years, said "Stamp was a great believer in the ability to steer
the show and also in the ability of the people on the show to work in a team.
. . This was Stamp's mistake. He thought that to be able to work in a team
was the best thing, the acme, the test of everything.. . If you got one that
did not, that whs a misfit, he avoided him. He encouraged the agressive marketing
policy pursued by Ashton Davies from 1932.

As an economist Stamp had been on the Dawes Committee in Germany and
a party to the setting up of Deutsches Reichsbahn Gesellschaft  the
state railway company reorganised on commercial lines and once removed from
direct state control.

Stamp's judgement could be seriously flawed, however. In 1936 he had
written to The Times arguing that Britain's universities should still
send representatives to Heidelberg's 550th anniversary ceremony even though
40 Jewish lecturers had been sacked. He argued that this was not the University's
fault but the responsibility of the Nazi government. Two years later, however,
he was writing articles for Herman Goering's magazine Die Vierjahresplan
and attended the Nuremburg Party Rally as a guest of Hitler.

Roland Bond in his Lifetime with
locomotives (page 139) noted that Stamp was a kindly man who had
the ability to put his less exalted staff completely at their ease. He had
a remarkably retentive memory and great powers of observation. Bond fondly
remebered the Memorial Service conducted by the Rev. George McLeoad at Glasgow
Cathedral.

Stamp's important contribution to locomotive matters is always said
to be his appointment of Stanier from 1st January 1932 in order to end feuding
in that area once and for all. Rutherford argued that it should be pointed
out, however, that Stamp was in charge for a full six years before
this appointment was made and it indicates corporate procrastination more
than decisive action.

In his Presidential Address to the Institute of Transport in 1929
entitled Scientific Research in Transport, Stamp again revealed his
preference for intellectual solutions to problems and it was no surprise,
therefore, when in 1930 Sir Harold Hartley CBE FRS, a Balliol don, became
Vice-President (Works and Ancillary Undertakings) and Director of Scientific
Research of the LMS. The appointment of the brilliant electrical engineer
Fairburn in 1934 is an interesting reflection on Stamp's methods. Much of
the above is due to Hamilton Ellis who castigates him for his teetolalism
and (almost) for his vigorous Christianity. The latter was the inspiration
for some of his writings. His bibliography is extensive. Ellis includes the
following [he] "was a perfect example of the good puritan boy who made better,
while having a geniality about him that was not generally associated with
his type. His way to success was to develop his mind as a cerebral filing
system, and to condition himself for maintaining a capacity for continual
work...encyclopaedic memory...prodigious energy...". [KPJ: the bold type
was added by myself: having been aware of his brother's work since being
a teenager, he was amazed to find that the pair were brothers, although Hamilton
Ellis's words would be equally apt for him.

He was created a GCB in 1935 and received a peerage in 1938. Lord
Stamp, his wife and eldest son, Wilfred, were killed in a direct hit on their
home "Shortands" situated in Bromley, during an air raid on the night of
16 April 1941. His brother was Sir Dudley Stamp, CBE, the famous geography
professor, ecologist, and co-founder of the New Naturalist Series (and
author of several titles in that series). One is tempted to ponder whether
the father's involvement in a railway bookstall had led to the encouragement
of his children to read extensively: certainly, both the Stamp brothers mentioned
herein had an amazing ability in the written word, and this must have been
based on an equal ability to digest information at an awesome rate.

Rutherford made some sharp comments
in Backtrack 16 515 concerning his close ties with senior
management on German railways, notably with Dr Julius Dorpmuller, his strong
involvement in appeasement, etc, but notes that "Stamp was the saviour of
the LMSR" as he welded the disparate parts together.

Railways. (with W.V. Wood). 1928.Fundamental Principles of Taxation in the Light of Modern Developments
(1921, rev. ed. 1936), Financial Aftermath of the War (1930)Christianity and Economics (1939).

Portraits

Essery, R.J. and Harris,
N. LMS reflections: a collection of photographs from the Hulton Picture
Company. 1986.Contains several interesting pictures: page 41 William Stanier "showing"
Sir Josiah Stamp the turbine locomotive at Euston Station on 27 June 1935.
Page 142: "human interest" picture of Lord Rutherford's grandson (Pat Rutherford)
being presented with model of Jubilee locomotive by Stamp whilst standing
on front of 5665 Lord Rutherford of Nelson presumably at St Pancras
prior to departure for Derby on 10 December 1935 for openinng of LMS Research
Laboratory. Page 81 posing in a buffet car with snack meal on 2 June 1932.
Portrait of Stamp in his office on 1 February 1937 with his back to blazing
coal fire (page 139) and on 12 July 1938 detonating explosion at Caldron
Low Quarries from his office (same page). Also includes a brief biographical
sketch.